For as long as people have gathered in one location, there has been noise created from many different conversations occurring at the same time and in the same place. Loud or unwanted noise in restaurants and other social locations make it very difficult for some people to have a normal conversation because their ears hear all the noise and cannot filter out unwanted or distracting sounds and noise. This creates an environment of many loud voices, in many conversations, thereby making it difficult for people to hear or listen to the conversation in which they are engaged. There are noise canceling headphones, however wearing them in these situations is unrealistic, inconvenient, and would prevent conversations from taking place.
Further, for centuries loud high decibel noise has caused physical discomfort, damage and hearing loss, as well as disruption of conversations and communication. Constant noise at certain decibel levels is physically harmful and damaging to human ears and its hearing mechanisms. There are noise cancelling headphones, but not everyone may wear them, and they may not be available. There are ear plugs, but they may not fully insulate the ear from the noise, and ear plugs may make it difficult to communicate.
There are many unwanted sounds and noises when a person is trying to fall asleep, or is asleep. One problem with current technology is a person must wear noise canceling headphones to cancel or lessen the unwanted sounds, and wearing headphones is not conducive to sleep and comfort.